Adaptive fiducials for image match recognition and tracking

ABSTRACT

Approaches enable images submitted by users, owner, and/or authorized person of a point of interest (e.g., a place, a scene, an object, etc.) to be used as a fiducial to assist recognition and tracking of the point of interest in an augmented reality environment. Multiple images (e.g., crowd-sourced images) of a point of interest taken from different points of view can be dynamically used. For example, as a user with a user device moves through a point of interest, a different image can be chosen from a set of stored candidate images of the point of interest based at least upon GPS locations, IMU orientations, or compass data of the user device. In this way, instead of relying on artificial fiducial images for various detection and tracking approaches, approaches enable images submitted by users and/or an owner or other authorized person of a point of interest to be used as fiducials to assist recognition and tracking of the point of interest.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/475,333, entitled “ADAPTIVE FIDUCIALS FOR IMAGE MATCH RECOGNITION ANDTRACKING,” filed Sep. 2, 2014; which is incorporated herein by referencefor all purposes.

BACKGROUND

As personal electronic devices become increasingly sophisticated, peopleare using such devices in new and interesting ways. For example,personal or portable electronic devices, such as smart phones, tablets,portable media players, and e-book readers, can be used to “augmentreality.” That is, an electronic device can be used as a viewfinder intothe real world and virtual elements can be overlaid to create a realitythat is enhanced or augmented. For example, an electronic device can beused to obtain a view of an object or location, and a computer-assistedcontextual layer can be displayed on top of the view to provideinformation about the object or location. Conventional systems andtechniques, however, may not offer a dynamic or engaging userexperience. Other conventional approaches may provide interfaces thatare less than optimal for users. As an example, considerable networkbandwidth may be used in the presentation of overlaid virtual elementsin conventional systems. As another example, conventional interfaces maylimit rendering of virtual elements to a small portion of a display orlimit rendering to certain types of elements (e.g., text or primitiveshapes).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example situation of an environment that can beutilized in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 1B illustrates an example situation of overlaying virtual elementswithin a live camera view in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 1C illustrates an example situation of overlaying virtual elementswithin a live camera view in accordance with an alternate embodiment;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example situations for recognizing andtracking a point of interest in a live camera view in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process for recognizing and tracking apoint of interest in a live camera view in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate example processes for providing content to beassociated with points of interest in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for determining image datarepresentative of a point of interest that can be utilized in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an augmented reality system forrecognizing and tracking a point of interest in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate an example computing device that can be usedin accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example set of basic components of a computingdevice, such as the device described with respect to FIGS. 7A and 7B;and

FIG. 9 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can beimplemented in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure may overcome one or more of the foregoing or otherdeficiencies experienced in conventional approaches for incorporatinginformation within a live camera view displayed on a display screen of acomputing device. In particular, various embodiments enable imagesreceived from users, an authorized person of a point of interest (e.g.,a place, a scene, an object, etc.), or some other source at an augmentedreality system to be used as fiducials to assist recognition andtracking of the point of interest in an augmented reality environment.

In various embodiments, multiple images (e.g., crowd-sourced images) ofa point of interest taken from different points of view can bedynamically used. For example, as a user with a user device movesthrough a point of interest, a different image can be chosen from a setof stored candidate images of the point of interest based at least uponglobal positioning system (GPS) locations, inertial measurement unit(IMU) orientations, compass data, etc., of the user device. In this way,instead of relying on artificial fiducial images (e.g., barcodes andother scan codes) for various detection and tracking approaches,techniques enable images submitted by users, an owner, and/or otherauthorized person of a point of interest (e.g., a place, a scene, anobject, etc.) to be used as fiducials to assist recognition and trackingof the point of interest. Advantageously, by combining at least GPSlocation, IMU orientation, compass and image match technology, theadaptive fiducial approach allows for high quality recognition andresponsive image tracking on a user's device, with efficient use ofnetwork bandwidth.

In certain embodiments, users and business owners of the system canassociate content to visual elements representative of the fiducial. Asa user's device detects the fiducial, the device can cause the contentassociated with the fiducial to be presented on the device, where thecontent can include, for example, various types of information such aspromotional coupons, menus, advertisements, reservation systems, floorplans, videos, audio, wait time, customer reviews, music, chat walls,attractions of the place, instant or daily specials, recommendations onspecific items, hyperlinks to reviews of the place on third party reviewsites, or other alternative places, etc. In some embodiments, contentcan be associated with specific objects or fiducials based at least inpart upon one of Global Positioning System (GPS) locations, InertialMeasurement Unit (IMU) orientations, compass data, or one or more visualmatching algorithms. Once the content is associated with the fiducial,the fiducial can be discovered by a user with a portable device pointingat the fiducial in the real world. At least some embodiments causecontent associated with the fiducial to be presented on a user's devicebased at least upon one of the proximity of the user to the fiducial, apoint of view of the user, a user profile of the user (e.g., userdemographic and preferences), or a profile of an owner of the physicallocation.

Various other functions and advantages are described and suggested belowas may be provided in accordance with the various embodiments.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example environment 100 that can be utilized inaccordance with various embodiments. Augmented reality (AR) may refer toa type of virtual reality that aims to duplicate the world's environmentin a computing device. In this example, an AR system generates acomposite view that is a combination of a real scene viewed by a userand a virtual scene generated by the computing device that augments thescene with additional information (e.g., virtual objects, textinformation, graphical information, etc.). The virtual scene generatedby the computing device may be designed to enhance the user's sensoryperception of the virtual world that the user may be seeing orinteracting with. In a conventional AR processing system, there arethree main steps (sometimes others) that can be performed: tracking thecamera spatial environment, to know where the mobile device is withrespect to the scene; mapping the spatial environment, construct a 3Destimation and spatial understanding of the scene; and rendering thevirtual content. As an example, a conventional video chat applicationmay include a feature for enabling the user to overlay virtual elementsor other content such as funny hats or other headgear, glasses, facialhair, and other embellishments over the image of the user in the videochat. To enable this feature, the acquired image is processed after ithas already been presented on screen. The processing can involvedetecting and tracking the user's head or face in the acquired image andthen drawing the virtual element on screen based on where the user'shead or face was previously tracked.

As shown FIG. 1A, a user with a computing device 103 such as a smartphone, an electronic book reader, or tablet computer, can be seen movingdown a street, for example, Market Street 140, while attempting toexperience an augmented reality by viewing additional content overlaidon a display of captured image data. It should be understood thatvarious other types of computing devices that are capable of determiningand processing input can be used in accordance with various embodimentsdiscussed herein. These devices can include, for example, notebookcomputers, personal data assistants, video gaming consoles orcontrollers, portable media players, and wearable computers (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses, etc.) among others. The computing device 103 mayinclude one or more image capture elements (not shown), such as one ormore cameras or camera sensors, to capture images and/or videos. Theimage capture elements may include, for example, a charge-coupled device(CCD), an active pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor(CMOS) or N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS), an infrared orultrasonic image sensor, or an image sensor utilizing other type ofimage capturing technologies.

In this example, the user desires to obtain relevant information aboutthe ABC Restaurant 120 using the computing device 103 to determine, forexample, whether to cross the Market Street 140 to visit the restaurant.In accordance with an embodiment, the user can direct one or more imagecapture elements located on the computing device 103 to capture a liveview of at least a portion of the ABC Restaurant 120. The ABC Restaurant120 may be recognized by analyzing and comparing the captured image(s)or feature(s) with stored images related to the place in a database. Inaccordance with various embodiments, many embodiments provide imageprocessing algorithms and recognition techniques to recognize a point ofinterest by matching the feature(s) or image of the point of interestagainst saved images in a database. For example, optical characterrecognition (OCR) can be used as a primary image analysis technique orto enhance other processes. Features (e.g., shape, size, color and text)of the point of interest can be extracted and matched against points ofinterest determined in the vicinity of the user's location. In someembodiments, image processing processes may include sub-processes suchas, for example, thresholding (converting a grayscale image to black andwhite, or using separation based on a grayscale value), segmentation,blob extraction, pattern recognition, barcode and data matrix codereading, gauging (measuring object dimensions), positioning, edgedetection, color analysis, filtering (e.g. morphological filtering) andtemplate matching (finding, matching, and/or counting specificpatterns). It should be noted that various other techniques (e.g., OCRand other text recognition processes) can be used as the primary imageanalysis technique or to enhance other processes as are known in theart.

Conventional AR systems and techniques, however, may not offer a dynamicor engaging user experience. For example, conventional AR systems employcomputer vision techniques to recognize objects/places in the world bymatching a portion of the camera image to stored images containingunique content, like store name lettering or an entire storefront. Theseimages with unique content may help with tracking, which can beimportant when relevant content is overlaid on the real world object inan augmented view. In some situations, artificial images with uniquecontent (e.g. QR codes) can be placed in a scene to aid recognition andtracking, and these are generally referred to as fiducials. However, insome situations artificial fiducials may not be present, makingrecognition and tracking difficult or impossible. Further, as is oftenthe case with conventional AR systems, it may be difficult to determinecontent the user may be interested in, and the user is often providedwith augmented content they have no interest in.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1B, although the user is interested incontent associated with restaurant 120, in this example, XYZ Bank 110,ABC Restaurant 120, and bridge 150 are recognized, and stored contentassociated with those places are provided based at least upon thecaptured image data in real time. As shown, the content presented on theuser device may include an address, a phone number, business hours, away to make reservations, and/or customer review of the point ofinterest. In this example, the content listed in the billboard 112includes an address, phone number, URL, hours and user review for theXYZ Bank 110, the content listed in the billboard 129 includes anaddress, phone number, URL, hours and customer rating for the ABCRestaurant 120, and the content 162 associated with the bridge includesa name, URL, and distance to the bridge. In some instances, the contentelements in the billboards 112, 129, and 162 can be interactive. Forexample, the user may select the URL address, www.xyzbank.com, to open awebpage of the XYZ Bank 110, or dial the phone number listed in thecontent 112 by tapping the number, or select the URL addresswww.baybridgeinfo.org, to open a webpage of the Bay Bridge.Unfortunately, recognizing and displaying unwanted content can beexpensive in terms of resources such as battery life, processingcapacity, and network bandwidth.

Accordingly, in accordance with various embodiments, instead of relyingon artificial fiducial images and conventional detection and trackingtechniques, approaches enable images submitted by users and/or an ownerof a point of interest (e.g., a place, a scene, an object, etc.) to beused as fiducials to assist recognition and tracking of the point ofinterest. The images (e.g., crowd-sourced images) of a point of interesttaken from different points of view can be dynamically used. Forexample, as a user with a user device moves through a point of interest,a different image (i.e., fiducial) can be chosen from a set of storedcandidate images of the point of interest based at least upon GPSlocations, IMU orientations, or compass data of the user device.Advantageously, by combining at least GPS location, IMU orientation,compass and image match technology, the adaptive fiducial approachallows for high quality recognition and responsive image tracking on auser's device, with efficient use of network bandwidth.

For example, as shown in example 180 of FIG. 1C, based at least in parton the user's GPS location, IMU orientation, captured image data, and/orcompass data, the device determines that the point of interest isrestaurant 120. Accordingly, one or more fiducials (artificial and/orcrowd-sourced) can be determined and emphasized (e.g., glowing effect,bold effect, billboard effect, or a visual 3D element) and contentassociated with the fiducials can be overlaid on the image data. Thefiducials can be determined from crowd-sourced images and/or imagesprovided by the owner and/or authorized person of the point of interest(e.g., restaurant 120). For example, during the image matchingprocessing there may not be an ideal image to match against due to, forexample, varying weather conditions, lighting conditions, image quality,viewpoints, etc. Accordingly, the image data can be compared against atleast a subset of the candidate images, and an image from the candidateimages that best matches the image data can be selected. The candidateimages can be crowd-sourced images captured from different viewingangels, different heights of people, different lighting conditions,different weather conditions, etc. The selected image can be used as afiducial for image matching and content associated with the fiducial canbe overlaid on the image data and displayed on the user's computingdevice. The fiducial can be tracked along with GPS, IMU, and compassdata to determine whether the user has moved or conditions have changedsuch that a different image is selected and provided as a fiducial tothe device.

As shown in the FIG. 1C, the identified fiducials include areas 151,152, 128, and 126. In this example, the designated area 151 includes thebillboard 124 to display an address, phone number, URL, and user reviews(e.g., reviews from Friends A and B) for the ABC Restaurant 120. Thedesignated area 152 includes the billboard 121 of videos. The designatedarea 128 includes the billboard 122 to display a menu of the ABCRestaurant 120. The designated area 126 includes the billboard 123 todisplay an instant coupon in bold to draw the user's attention. Thecanvas or overlay of the ABC Restaurant 120 may also have a picture ofthe smiling owner 125 inviting the user to visit the Restaurant 120,“Welcome! Come on in!” 153. In some instances, the picture of smilingowner 125 may be a 2D hologram image with the owner facing the directionof a user as the user walks by the front door.

The fiducials can be tracked and as the location of the fiducials withrespect to the computing device change more than a threshold distance orsome other condition such as lighting, time of day, etc., a differentimage can be chosen as a fiducial from a set of stored candidate imagesbased at least upon GPS locations, IMU orientations, or compass data ofthe user device. For example, FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate examplesituations for recognizing and tracking a point of interest (a fiducial)in a live camera view in accordance with an embodiment. As shown inexample 200 of FIG. 2A, computing device 203 has moved from a firstlocation to a second location as indicated by arrow 207. When in thefirst location, based at least in part upon GPS locations, IMUorientations, compass data, and image data captured in field of view202, it can be determined that the point of interest is ABC Restaurant220. In this situation, images submitted by users and/or an owner of theABC restaurant can be used to assist recognition and tracking of thepoint of interest or fiducials included in the point of interest. Asdescribed, users and business owners can associate content to visualelements representative of the fiducial. As a user's device detects thefiducial, the device can cause the content associated with the fiducialto be presented on the device. Tracking information can be determinedfor one or more fiducials, and as a location of the fiducials withrespect to the computing device change more than a threshold distance orsome other condition such as lighting, time of day, etc. changes morethan a threshold amount, a different image can be chosen from a set ofstored candidate images based at least upon GPS locations, IMUorientations, or compass data of the user device.

For example, in accordance with various embodiments, when the device isin the second location, based at least in part upon GPS locations, IMUorientations, compass data, and image data captured in field of view205, the device can determine that the point of interest is XYZ Bank210. Accordingly, captured image data of XYZ Bank can be captured by acamera of the computing device 203. The image data can be associatedwith at least one of a current location identifier or a timestamp. Thecurrent location identifier can include information associated with, forexample, Global Positioning System (GPS) locations, Inertial MeasurementUnit (IMU) orientations, compass data of the computing device. Thetimestamp can include information such as a date and time of capturingthe image data.

The information can be provided to a remote server or processed on thecomputing device. In either situation, information representative of avisual feature associated with XYZ Bank can be determined based at leastin part on the image data. This can include, for example, analyzing theimage data using one or more image processing algorithms to determinevisual features or other unique objects represented in the image. Inthis situation, the name of the bank, XYZ Bank, is determined. Theinformation (e.g., feature points, feature vectors, or other informationcharacterizing the visual feature) can be matched to stored informationbased at least in part on the current location identifier, thetimestamp, or position information and orientation informationassociated with the camera at a time of capturing the image data, wherethe stored information can be associated with at least one candidateimage acquired from at least one source. In accordance with variousembodiments, matching the information can include determining aplurality of candidate images based at least in part on a location ofthe user device and position information associated with the computingdevice; comparing the image data with at least a portion of theplurality of the candidate images using at least one image matchingalgorithm; determining a confidence score for each compared candidateimage of the plurality of candidate images; and selecting a unique imageassociated with the highest confidence score.

The current location identifier, position information, and orientationinformation can be determined based at least in part upon one of GlobalPositioning System (GPS) data, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)orientation data, or compass data captured by the computing device, orone or more visual matching algorithms. The stored information cancorrespond to image data acquired from at least one source, and whereinthe at least one source can include information from an augmentedreality system, social networking websites, electronic imagedistribution websites, user provided images, among other sources.

Content associated with the stored information can be retrieved. Asdescribed, the content can include, for example, promotional coupons,menus, advertisements, reservation systems, floor plans, videos, audio,wait time, customer reviews, music, chat walls, attractions of theplace, instant or daily specials, recommendations on specific items,hyperlinks to reviews of the place on third party review sites, or otheralternative places, etc.

In accordance with an embodiment, tracking information associated with aposition of a representation of the visual feature with respect to thecomputing device can be determined. Tracking information can include,for example, to at least one of a position of a representation of thevisual feature relative to the computing device, timestamp informationthat corresponds to one of a time of day and a time of year the imagedata is captured, or other information capable of being used todetermine a change in the fiducial, whether temporal with respect towhen the image data was captured, or spatially relative to the computingdevice. The content can be provided for display with the captured imagedata on the computing device based at least in part on the position ofthe visual feature being within a position threshold and the content canbe rendered in an overlay element that overlays the captured image datadisplayed on the computing device.

For example, as shown in example 260 of FIG. 2B, the identifiedfiducials include areas 210 and 212. In this example, the designatedarea 210 includes the overlay 215 to display an address, phone number,URL, and user reviews (e.g., reviews) for the XYZ Bank. The designatedarea 212 includes the overlay 232 information about current interestrates. In accordance with various embodiments, depending on the distancebetween a user and a point of interest (e.g., the XYZ Bank), differentlevels of detail information (e.g., content and links) related to thepoint of interest may be presented to the user. As the user gets closerto the point of interest, certain content (e.g., promotions) may beshown on the user device. In some embodiments, depending on thefiducials that the user device is pointing at, a different set ofcontent may be presented to the user. In some embodiments, based upon apoint of view of a user, certain content and links are shown to the userin small fonts or icons. The user may get more details of these fonts oricons by selecting the small fonts or icons, or magnifying a displayarea corresponding to the small fonts or icons. In certain embodiments,a user can take a self-guided tour of a point of interest in anaugmented reality environment by pointing a user device with a camera atthe point of interest in the real world and then receiving differentlinks, files and/or content related to the point of interest for eachimage on the camera view of the user device.

In some embodiments, the information of a point of interest presented toa user can be customized based at least upon the user profile or GPSlocations, weather conditions, compass, or a degree of relevancy to thepoint of interest. The customization of the information may includechoosing what types of information being presented and/or how theinformation is presented on the user device. For example, theinformation pertinent to a restaurant may include subject matters, suchas the type of food served, menu, price, user reviews, professionalcritic reviews, etc. In some embodiments, information deemed morerelevant to the user may be displayed more prominently than those lessrelevant. If a user desires more information about a point of interest,the user may magnify or zoom the point of interest on a user device.

In various embodiments, content presented on a user device can bedetermined based at least in part upon a user profile or the location ofthe user device. For example, if the user is determined to be a firsttime visitor to a location, for example San Francisco, an icon or symbolof a landmark (e.g., the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge) that is inthe direction or in the vicinity of a user device may be presented onthe user device, together with an explanatory billboard. The overlay caninclude tourist information regarding the landmark (e.g., the distanceand URL of the Bay Bridge). In some embodiments, points of interest orlandmarks in the direction of a user device have to meet a predeterminedset of conditions to be presented on a user device. The predeterminedset of conditions include such as, but are not limited to, whether thepoints of interest are within a predetermined number of miles, having athreshold review rating, or within a predetermined degree of orientationof the user device.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 for recognizing and tracking afeature or point of interest in a live camera view in accordance withvarious embodiments. It should be understood that there can beadditional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments unless otherwise stated. In the context of augmentedreality, an image of an object or point of interest (e.g., person,place, etc.) can be captured in a substantially real-time manner using acamera of a mobile computing device. Using an appropriate applicationexecuting on a computing device, a user is able to obtain an image ofthe point of interest or object by positioning the mobile computingdevice such that the point of interest or object is within a field ofview of at least one camera of the mobile computing device. The imagedata can be received 302 at a remote server such as a server of anaugmented reality system or other processing system. The image data canbe associated with at least one of a current location identifier or atimestamp. The current location identifier can include informationassociated with, for example, Global Positioning System (GPS) locations,Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) orientations, compass data of thecomputing device. The timestamp can include information such as a dateand time of capturing the image data.

Information representative of a visual feature (e.g., object or otherfeature) can be determined 302 at the remote server or determined on thecomputing device and provided to the remote server. In variousembodiments, the processes described herein can be performed at theremote server, at the computing device, or a combination of the remoteserver and computing device. Information representative of a visualfeature associated with the point of interest can be determined 304based at least in part on the image data. This can include, for example,analyzing the image data using one or more image processing algorithmsto determine visual features or other unique objects represented in theimage.

Tracking information associated with a position of a representation ofthe visual feature with respect to the computing device can bedetermined and received 306. Tracking information can include, forexample, at least one of a position of a representation of the visualfeature relative to the computing device, timestamp information thatcorresponds to one of a time of day and a time of year the image data iscaptured, or other information capable of being used to determine achange in the fiducial, whether temporal with respect to when the imagedata was captured, or spatially relative to the computing device. In thesituation where it is determined that the tracking information isoutside a tracking threshold, additional image information is capturedand received at the remote server or processed on the computing device.For example, in an embodiment, an indication that the position of thevisual feature is outside a position threshold of the tracking thresholdcan be received and the content rendered in the overlay element thatoverlays the image data displayed on the computing device to be updated.In another example, an indication that the timestamp information isoutside a temporal threshold of the tracking threshold can be receivedand the content rendered in the overlay element that overlays the imagedata displayed on the computing device to be updated. The indication canbe received at a remote server, such as a server associated with anaugmented reality system or determined and received at a component onthe device. In the situation where it is determined that the trackinginformation is within a tracking threshold, the information (e.g.,feature points, feature vectors, or other information characterizing thevisual feature) can be matched 308 to stored information based at leastin part on the current location identifier, the timestamp, or positioninformation and orientation information associated with the camera at atime of capturing the image data, wherein the stored information can beassociated with at least one candidate image acquired from at least onesource. In accordance with various embodiments, matching the informationcan include determining a plurality of candidate images based at leastin part on a location of the user device and position informationassociated with the computing device; comparing the image data with atleast a portion of the plurality of the candidate images using at leastone image matching algorithm; determining a confidence score for eachcompared candidate image of the plurality of candidate images; andselecting a unique image associated with the highest confidence score.In accordance with various embodiments, the current location identifier,position information, and orientation information can be determinedbased at least in part upon one of Global Positioning System (GPS) data,Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) orientation data, or compass datacaptured by the computing device, or one or more visual matchingalgorithms. The stored information can correspond to image data acquiredfrom at least one source, and wherein the at least one source caninclude information from an augmented reality system, social networkingwebsites, electronic image distribution websites, user provided images,among other sources.

Content associated with the stored information can be retrieved 310. Asdescribed, the content can include, for example, promotional coupons,menus, advertisements, reservation systems, floor plans, videos, audio,wait time, customer reviews, music, chat walls, attractions of theplace, instant or daily specials, recommendations on specific items,hyperlinks to reviews of the place on third party review sites, or otheralternative places, etc. The content can be provided 312 for displaywith the captured image data on the computing device and the content canbe caused 314 to be rendered in an overlay element that overlays thecaptured image data displayed on the computing device. In accordancewith various embodiments, when rendering the content (or at other times)directional cues may be provided on a user interface layer of the userdevice that indicate points of interests that are being displayed on thecomputing device, i.e., not being captured by the cameras of thecomputing device or in the point of view of the user, but are nearby andrelevant. For example, a directional cue may indicate that a store orother point of interest can be discovered if the user points the devicein the direction of the directional cue.

In certain embodiments, the overlaid image content can be controlled toprovide a viewer with “hidden” or additional content that is based atleast in part upon a current relative position and/or orientation of theviewer with respect to the device, as well as changes in that relativeposition and/or orientation. The content can include various portions,and different adjustments can be applied to each portion based uponthese and/or other such changes. These adjustments can include, forexample, displaying different information and/or sounds and variousother content. For example, as the user tilts, or rotates, or otherwisechanges the orientation of the device, the user can “peek” at differentinformation associated with what's in the field of view of the camera.In one example, in the situation where the user is being providedaugmented reality content associated with a restaurant, the user cantilt or rotate the device about a primary axis to cause the device todisplay, for example, a restaurant rating, hours of operation, bestdishes, etc., which when added to the rendered content, can enhance theexperience of the viewer.

In accordance with various embodiments, the relative movements can bebased upon factors such as the distance of the viewer to the device, adirection of movement of the user, a direction of change in orientationof the device, or other such factors. In various embodiments, therelative position and/or orientation of a viewer of a computing devicecan be determined using at least one image capture element of thedevice. For example, the feed from a video camera can be analyzed tolocate a relative position of the viewer in the video feed, which can beanalyzed to determine the relative direction of the viewer. In otherembodiments, one or more digital still cameras can capture imagesperiodically, in response to detected movement of the viewer and/ordevice, or at other appropriate times, which then can be analyzed toattempt to determine viewer position, as distance can often bedetermined in addition to direction when analyzing multiple sources ofinformation from different locations. Distance can be determined, forexample, using stereoscopic imaging or proximity sensing, among othersuch options. In some embodiments, infrared (IR) imaging can be used todetect specific features of the viewer, such as the viewer's eyes, foruse in determining and/or tracking the location of the viewer. In stillother embodiments, changes in the orientation and/or position of thedevice can be determined using at least one motion sensor of the device,in order to provide for a higher sampling frequency than might otherwisebe possible using the image information captured by the camera, orotherwise attempt to improve the relative position determinations. Insome situations, a sensor that is remote, separate, or otherwise incommunication with the device can be used to detect a change inorientation and/or position of the device. The orientation informationcan be received at the device from the sensor, and the device can causethe image data to be duplicated on particular pixels based at least inpart on the received orientation and/or position information.

In at least some embodiments, a computing device can attempt todetermine changes in the relative position, direction, and/ororientation between the viewer and device in order to update theperspective from which the displayed content is rendered or otherwisedisplayed. For example, the device can continue capturing and analyzingimage information to attempt to determine changes in relative positionof the viewer, such as may be based on movement of the viewer and/or thedevice. The device also can utilize information from at least oneorientation or position determining element of the device, such as anaccelerometer or inertial sensor, to assist in detecting motions of thedevice and updating the viewing angle accordingly. These elements alsocan detect changes in orientation of the device, such as throughrotation of the device, even though the relative position between theviewer and the device might not have substantially changed. The displaycan be updated based at least in part upon changes in orientation aswell. By adjusting the content to correspond to changes in the relativeviewing angle of the user, the user can view additional and/or differentcontent associated with what is in the field of view of the camera.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example process 400 for providing content to beassociated with features or points of interest in accordance withvarious embodiments. In this example, content can be provided by anowner or authorized person of the point of interest or one or moreusers. In this example, the authorized person is provided 402 access toan augmented reality system. For example, using one of a number ofauthentication processes, an owner or other authorized person of a pointof interest can enter credentials to obtain access to an augmentedreality system associated with the point of interest. Uponauthentication, the authorized person can provide input received 404 atthe system on the types of content capable of being associated with thepoint of interest, and/or how the associated content is to be presented(e.g., a blank wall or whole business-front, layout, or visual elementsto be attached) and this input can be received at the system. The typesof content can include text, images, video, sound, etc. In somesituations the authorized person can limit the types of content while insome situations there is no limit to the type of content that can beassociated with the points of interest. In certain situations, there isno owner or authorized person; rather, any user can indicate a point ofinterest. For example, a user of the system may indicate a wall, area,location, or other physical area as a point of interest. In such asituation, default limitations can be used as to the type of contentthat can be associated with the point of interest.

As described images can be received at the system by users of thesystem. For example, image data (e.g., an image or video) can becaptured of a point of interest in the real world by a user device andreceived 406 at a remote server such as a server of an augmented realitysystem or other processing system. The image data can correspond to apoint of view from a user of the user device. The point of view of theuser can be determined based at least in part upon one of GPS locations,IMU orientations, or compass data of the user device. The image data mayhave one or more features (e.g., visual features) for image matching andrecognition. In some embodiments, the features may be used as one ormore anchor points in an augmented reality environment for users toassociate content with the point of interest. As part of receiving theimage data, an indication may be provided to the user or owner about thequality of the captured image so that suitable images can be submittedfor image matching. For example, an image with unique visual featuresworks better in image matching than the one that is featureless. In someinstances, the scaled indication (e.g., a scale of 0 to 10, orstrong/medium/bad) can be provided to the user. Unless the quality of animage crosses a minimum threshold, the image is not allowed to besubmitted.

Further, as part of receiving the image data, information identifyingthe point of interest (POI) can be received 408 at the system. Theinformation can be received by the user or owner, by matching one ormore features of the point of interest against at least a portion ofsaved images of a plurality of points of interest in a database, or byGPS, IMU and compass comparisons against an existing database of pointsof interest. In the situation where the user or owner provides theinformation, the user or owner can outline or otherwise indicate thepoint of interest by, for example, tapping and dragging their finger oran object to outline the point of interest displayed on the displayscreen of the device. Information indicative of the outline, e.g.,location, placement, etc., can be provided to the system.

In some embodiments, the plurality of images used in the imagerecognition and matching process can be selected based at least in partupon the proximity of the points of interest to the location of the userdevice or the point of view of the user. In accordance with variousembodiments, content, files, and/or links related to the point ofinterest can be received 410 at the database. For example, in someembodiments, the content, files, and/or links can be retrieved directlyfrom various types of sources, such as, social networking sites,newspapers and magazines, search engines, local directory services,and/or third party service providers. The system, owner, or user of thesystem can initiate a process to acquire such content. The content,files, and/or links can be subject matter of the point of interest suchas, attractions of the point of interest, instant or daily specials,recommendations on specific items, hyperlinks to reviews of the point ofinterest on third party review sites, or other alternative point ofinterest (e.g., proximity, or reviews) based on user's profile andpreferences. Additional links, content, and/or files can be received 412by at least one user through the interface layer and/or edits can bemade and received on any part of the links, content, and/or files thatwere submitted by the user. Thereafter, the additional content and/oredited content files, and/or links can be presented on an interfacelayer of the user device. A preview of the retrieved content, files,and/or links can be presented on an interface layer of the user devicebased at least in part upon the user's proximity to the point ofinterest, the point of view of the user, the user's profile andpreferences, or some other reason.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example process 420 for specifying the display ofcontent on a computing device. In this example, an owner or otherauthorized person of a point of interest or features associated with thepoint of interest can specify how virtual content is displayed when auser attempts to view the virtual content overlaid on a live cameraview. The example process begins with logging 422 in as an owner of apoint of interest through an authentication process. The owner may haveto answer correctly a series of questions relating to the history of thepoint of interest or information listed in an owner record for the pointof interest. Once the owner gets authenticated, the owner can provide424 content or a link relating to the point of interest in an augmentedreality environment. The owner can customize 426 a layout of the contentor link on a user interface layer corresponding to the point ofinterest. A user can select 428 the customized layout, a default layout,or create a customized layout of the content or link on the userinterface layer corresponding to the point of interest on a user device.In certain embodiments, the user can submit 430 one or more links and/orcontent relating to the point of interest on the user interface layer,or edit any of the content and/or link that were submitted by the user.The submitted link(s) and/or content can be associated 432 with at leastone of one or more acquired images by the user device, or GPS location,IMU orientations, or compass data of the user device. In someembodiments, an owner of a point of interest can control at least inpart how the content or links can be presented (e.g., a canvas oroverlay, a layout of markers, or how many links attached to each marker)to users in an augmented reality environment, or what types of contentand link can be attached to the point of interest.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500 for determining image datarepresentative of a point of interest or feature associated with thepoint of interest that can be utilized in accordance with variousembodiments. Image data of a point of interest is received 502 from auser device. The image data corresponds to a point of view from a userof the user device and may have one or more features for image matchingand recognition. The point of view of the user can be determined basedat least in part upon GPS locations, IMU orientations, or compass dataof the user device. One or more candidate images can be determined 504based at least upon the location of the user device, or the point ofview of the user. The received image data can be compared 506 with atleast a subset of the candidate images using one or more image matchingalgorithms. As described, the candidate images may be taken at differenttimes of day and/or under different weather conditions. A confidencescore is determined 508 for at least one of the comparisons. In variousembodiments, a confidence sore is determined for each comparison and animage with the highest confidence score is selected 510. Contentassociated with the image can be provided 512 to the user's device. Inresponse to determining 514 that the point of view of the users haschanged a threshold amount, new image data can be captured 516 utilized518 by the user device for fiducial recognition and tracking asdescribed above. In some embodiments, the new image data might have thesame or different content as the previous unique image. A new image datawith the same content might represent a different point of view of thesame point of interest. The new image data is selected from a new set ofcandidate images that corresponds to the location of the user device,and the new point of view of the user. New content associated with thenew image data can be presented on the user interface of the userdevice.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an augmented reality system forrecognizing and tracking fiducials (e.g., artificial and/orcrowd-sourced) in accordance with various embodiments. The augmentedreality platform 630 communicates with the client computing devices 602via the network 604. Although only some client computing devices 602 areshown in FIG. 6, it should be understood that various other types ofelectronic or computing devices that are capable of receiving, orrendering a web application in accordance with various embodiments arediscussed herein. These client devices can include, for example desktopPCs, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal data assistants(PDAs), smart phones, portable media file players, e-book readers,portable computers, head-mounted displays, interactive kiosks, mobilephones, net books, single-board computers (SBCs), embedded computersystems, wearable computers (e.g., watches or glasses), gaming consoles,home-theater PCs (HTPCs), TVs, DVD players, digital cable boxes, digitalvideo recorders (DVRs), computer systems capable of running aweb-browser, or a combination of any two or more of these.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality platform 630 provides a webservice allowing users to search and discover links and other content(e.g., reviews, menus, video, chat walls, contact information, URLs)that are tied to unique visual features at a point of interest in thereal world. The client computing devices 602 can display those links andcontent as augmented reality content on the display screen or the camerapreview screen. On the production side, the augmented reality system 630enables users or an owner of point of interest to submit or upload linksand/or contents related to the point of interest to the database 620.The links and/or contents are tied to at least one of the point of view(e.g., GPS location, IMU orientation, and compass) from the clientcomputing device 602, or image features of the point of interest. On theconsumption side, users in the real world can discover the links and/orcontent related to the point of interest by pointing the clientcomputing device 602 at the point of interest. The links and/or contentrelated to the point of interest can be presented as content augmentinga camera preview of the real world.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality platform 630 enables users tosubmit multiple and varied points of view of the same point of interest.In some instances, submitted points of view are taken under differentweather conditions. As a user moves along in the real world, theaugmented reality system 630 can recognize and match features in thereal-time image against images that are associated to the points ofinterest in the vicinity of the client computing device 602 or withinthe point of view of the user. Candidate images together with associatedcontent and/or links can be dynamically selected, even when points ofview of the user is moving and the real-time image is different from thesaved images. The augmented reality platform 630 can calculate aconfidence score for each candidate image by matching the candidateimage against the real-time image and provide a stored image with thehighest confidence score for the user to use as a fiducial forrecognition and tracking, along with the content and/ links associatedwith the point of interest.

For example, in accordance with various embodiments, image data of apoint of interest captured by a camera of a computing device operated bya user can be received at the augmented reality platform, where theimage data can include at least one visual feature. Informationrepresentative of the visual feature can be determined based at least inpart on the image data. Tracking information associated with the visualfeature can be received. In response to determining that the trackinginformation is within a tracking threshold, the information can bematched to stored information based at least in part on positioninformation and orientation information associated with the camera at atime of capturing the image data, wherein the stored informationcorresponding to a one or more items used to determine an item matchingto the visual feature. Content associated with the item matched to thevisual feature can be retrieved and provided for display with the imagedata on the computing device. Thereafter, the content can be caused tobe rendered in an overlay element that overlays the image data displayedon the computing device. The content can include, for example,user-selectable elements or other visual content elements that can beselected by the user or otherwise viewed, the content elements includingat least one of a button or a hyperlink, for example. In accordance withan embodiment, the overlay element can augment the image data byoverlaying the content, wherein the overlay element is selected from oneof a box, a button, a three-dimensional (3D) structure, an animation,audio, video, Web page, or interactive user interface.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate front and back views, respectively, of anexample electronic computing device 700 that can be used in accordancewith various embodiments. Although a portable computing device (e.g., asmartphone, an electronic book reader, or tablet computer) is shown, itshould be understood that any device capable of receiving and processinginput can be used in accordance with various embodiments discussedherein. The devices can include, for example, desktop computers,notebook computers, electronic book readers, personal data assistants,cellular phones, video gaming consoles or controllers, television settop boxes, and portable media players, among others.

In this example, the computing device 700 has a display screen 702(e.g., an LCD element) operable to display information or image contentto one or more users or viewers of the device. The display screen ofsome embodiments displays information to the viewers facing the displayscreen (e.g., on the same side of the computing device as the displayscreen). The computing device in this example can include one or moreimaging elements, in this example including two image capture elements704 on the front of the device and at least one image capture element710 on the back of the device. It should be understood, however, thatimage capture elements could also, or alternatively, be placed on thesides or corners of the device, and that there can be any appropriatenumber of capture elements of similar or different types. Each imagecapture element 704 and 710 may be, for example, a camera, acharge-coupled device (CCD), a motion detection sensor or an infraredsensor, or other image capturing technology.

As discussed, the device can use the images (e.g., still or video)captured from the imaging elements 704 and 710 to generate athree-dimensional simulation of the surrounding environment (e.g., avirtual reality of the surrounding environment for display on thedisplay element of the device). Further, the device can utilize outputsfrom at least one of the image capture elements 704 and 710 to assist indetermining the location and/or orientation of a user and in recognizingnearby persons, objects, or locations. For example, if the user isholding the device, the captured image information can be analyzed(e.g., using mapping information about a particular area) to determinethe approximate location and/or orientation of the user. The capturedimage information may also be analyzed to recognize nearby persons,objects, or locations (e.g., by matching parameters or elements from themapping information).

The computing device can also include at least one microphone or otheraudio capture elements capable of capturing audio data, such as wordsspoken by a user of the device, music being hummed by a person near thedevice, or audio being generated by a nearby speaker or other suchcomponent, although audio elements are not required in at least somedevices. In this example there are three microphones, one microphone 708on the front side, one microphone 712 on the back, and one microphone706 on or near a top or side of the device. In some devices there may beonly one microphone, while in other devices there might be at least onemicrophone on each side and/or corner of the device, or in otherappropriate locations.

The device 700 in this example also includes one or more orientation- orposition-determining elements 718 operable to provide information suchas a position, direction, motion, or orientation of the device. Theseelements can include, for example, accelerometers, inertial sensors, orelectronic gyroscopes operable to detect movement (e.g., rotationalmovement, angular displacement, tilt, position, orientation, motionalong a non-linear path, etc.) of the device 700. An orientationdetermining element can also include an electronic or digital compass,which can indicate a direction (e.g., north or south) in which thedevice is determined to be pointing (e.g., with respect to a primaryaxis or other such aspect).

The example device also includes at least one computing mechanism 714,such as may include at least one wired or wireless component operable tocommunicate with one or more electronic devices. The device alsoincludes a power system 716, such as may include a battery operable tobe recharged through conventional plug-in approaches, or through otherapproaches such as capacitive charging through proximity with a powermat or other such device. Various other elements and/or combinations arepossible as well within the scope of various embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a set of basic components of an electronic computingdevice 800 such as the device 700 described with respect to FIGS. 7A and7B. In this example, the device includes at least one processing unit802 for executing instructions that can be stored in a memory device orelement 804. As would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art,the device can include many types of memory, data storage, orcomputer-readable media, such as a first data storage for programinstructions for execution by the processing unit(s) 802, the same orseparate storage can be used for images or data, a removable memory canbe available for sharing information with other devices, and any numberof computing approaches can be available for sharing with other devices.

The device typically will include some type of display element 806, suchas a touch screen, electronic ink (e-ink), organic light emitting diode(OLED) or liquid crystal display (LCD), although devices such asportable media players might convey information via other means, such asthrough audio speakers.

As discussed, the device in many embodiments will include at least oneimaging element 808, such as one or more cameras that are able tocapture images of the surrounding environment and that are able to imagea user, people, or objects in the vicinity of the device. The imagecapture element can include any appropriate technology, such as a CCDimage capture element having a sufficient resolution, focal range, andviewable area to capture an image of the user when the user is operatingthe device. Methods for capturing images using a camera element with acomputing device are well known in the art and will not be discussedherein in detail. It should be understood that image capture can beperformed using a single image, multiple images, periodic imaging,continuous image capturing, image streaming, etc. Further, a device caninclude the ability to start and/or stop image capture, such as whenreceiving a command from a user, application, or other device.

The example computing device 800 also includes at least one orientationdetermining element 810 able to determine and/or detect orientationand/or movement of the device. Such an element can include, for example,an accelerometer or gyroscope operable to detect movement (e.g.,rotational movement, angular displacement, tilt, position, orientation,motion along a non-linear path, etc.) of the device 800. An orientationdetermining element can also include an electronic or digital compass,which can indicate a direction (e.g., north or south) in which thedevice is determined to be pointing (e.g., with respect to a primaryaxis or other such aspect).

As discussed, the device in many embodiments will include at least apositioning element 812 for determining a location of the device (or theuser of the device). A positioning element can include or comprise a GPSor similar location-determining elements operable to determine relativecoordinates for a position of the device. As mentioned above,positioning elements may include wireless access points, base stations,etc. that may either broadcast location information or enabletriangulation of signals to determine the location of the device. Otherpositioning elements may include QR codes, barcodes, RFID tags, NFCtags, etc. that enable the device to detect and receive locationinformation or identifiers that enable the device to obtain the locationinformation (e.g., by mapping the identifiers to a correspondinglocation). Various embodiments can include one or more such elements inany appropriate combination.

As mentioned above, some embodiments use the element(s) to track thelocation of a device. Upon determining an initial position of a device(e.g., using GPS), the device of some embodiments may keep track of thelocation of the device by using the element(s), or in some instances, byusing the orientation determining element(s) as mentioned above, or acombination thereof. As should be understood, the algorithms ormechanisms used for determining a position and/or orientation can dependat least in part upon the selection of elements available to the device.

The example device also includes one or more wireless components 814operable to communicate with one or more electronic devices within acomputing range of the particular wireless channel. The wireless channelcan be any appropriate channel used to enable devices to communicatewirelessly, such as Bluetooth, cellular, NFC, or Wi-Fi channels. Itshould be understood that the device can have one or more conventionalwired communications connections as known in the art.

The example device also includes a tracking element 818 operableperforming functions such as receiving image data of a point of interestcaptured by a camera of a computing device operated by a user, the imagedata including a visual feature; determining information representativeof the visual feature based at least in part on the image data;receiving tracking information associated with the visual feature;determine that the tracking information is within a tracking threshold;matching the information to stored information based at least in part onposition information and orientation information associated with thecamera at a time of capturing the image data, the stored informationcorresponding to a one or more items used to determine an item matchingto the visual feature; retrieving content associated with the itemmatched to the visual feature; providing the content for display withthe image data on the computing device; and cause the content to berendered in an overlay element that overlays the image data displayed onthe computing device.

The device also includes a power system 816, such as may include abattery operable to be recharged through conventional plug-inapproaches, or through other approaches such as capacitive chargingthrough proximity with a power mat or other such device. Various otherelements and/or combinations are possible as well within the scope ofvarious embodiments.

In some embodiments the device can include at least one additional inputdevice able to receive conventional input from a user. This conventionalinput can include, for example, a push button, touch pad, touch screen,wheel, joystick, keyboard, mouse, keypad, or any other such device orelement whereby a user can input a command to the device. These I/Odevices could even be connected by a wireless infrared or Bluetooth orother link as well in some embodiments. Some devices also can include amicrophone or other audio capture element that accepts voice or otheraudio commands. For example, a device might not include any buttons atall, but might be controlled only through a combination of visual andaudio commands, such that a user can control the device without havingto be in contact with the device.

As discussed, different approaches can be implemented in variousenvironments in accordance with the described embodiments. For example,FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an environment 900 for implementingaspects in accordance with various embodiments. As will be appreciated,although a Web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation,different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement variousembodiments. The system includes an electronic client device 902, whichcan include any appropriate device operable to send and receiverequests, messages or information over an appropriate network 904 andconvey information back to a user of the device. Examples of such clientdevices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messagingdevices, laptop computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants,electronic book readers and the like. The network can include anyappropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellularnetwork, a local area network or any other such network or combinationthereof. The network could be a “push” network, a “pull” network, or acombination thereof. In a “push” network, one or more of the serverspush out data to the client device. In a “pull” network, one or more ofthe servers send data to the client device upon request for the data bythe client device. Components used for such a system can depend at leastin part upon the type of network and/or environment selected. Protocolsand components for communicating via such a network are well known andwill not be discussed herein in detail. Computing over the network canbe enabled via wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.In this example, the network includes the Internet, as the environmentincludes a Web server 906 for receiving requests and serving content inresponse thereto, although for other networks, an alternative deviceserving a similar purpose could be used, as would be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art.

The illustrative environment includes at least one application server908 and a data store 910. It should be understood that there can beseveral application servers, layers or other elements, processes orcomponents, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which caninteract to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriatedata store. As used herein, the term “data store” refers to any deviceor combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrievingdata, which may include any combination and number of data servers,databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard,distributed or clustered environment. The application server 908 caninclude any appropriate hardware and software for integrating with thedata store 910 as needed to execute aspects of one or more applicationsfor the client device and handling a majority of the data access andbusiness logic for an application. The application server providesaccess control services in cooperation with the data store and is ableto generate content such as text, graphics, audio and/or video to betransferred to the user, which may be served to the user by the Webserver 906 in the form of HTML, XML or another appropriate structuredlanguage in this example. The handling of all requests and responses, aswell as the delivery of content between the client device 902 and theapplication server 908, can be handled by the Web server 906. It shouldbe understood that the Web and application servers are not required andare merely example components, as structured code discussed herein canbe executed on any appropriate device or host machine as discussedelsewhere herein.

The data store 910 can include several separate data tables, databasesor other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating toa particular aspect. For example, the data store illustrated includesmechanisms for storing content (e.g., production data) 912 and userinformation 916, which can be used to serve content for the productionside. The data store is also shown to include a mechanism for storinglog or session data 914. It should be understood that there can be manyother aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as pageimage information and access rights information, which can be stored inany of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additionalmechanisms in the data store 910. The data store 910 is operable,through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from theapplication server 908 and obtain, update or otherwise process data inresponse thereto. In one example, a user might submit a search requestfor a certain type of item. In this case, the data store might accessthe user information to verify the identity of the user and can accessthe catalog detail information to obtain information about items of thattype. The information can then be returned to the user, such as in aresults listing on a Web page that the user is able to view via abrowser on the user device 902. Information for a particular item ofinterest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.

Each server typically will include an operating system that providesexecutable program instructions for the general administration andoperation of that server and typically will include computer-readablemedium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of theserver, allow the server to perform its intended functions. Suitableimplementations for the operating system and general functionality ofthe servers are known or commercially available and are readilyimplemented by persons having ordinary skill in the art, particularly inlight of the disclosure herein.

The environment in one embodiment is a distributed computing environmentutilizing several computer systems and components that areinterconnected via computing links, using one or more computer networksor direct connections. However, it will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally wellin a system having fewer or a greater number of components than areillustrated in FIG. 9. Thus, the depiction of the system 900 in FIG. 9should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to thescope of the disclosure.

As discussed above, the various embodiments can be implemented in a widevariety of operating environments, which in some cases can include oneor more user computers, computing devices, or processing devices whichcan be used to operate any of a number of applications. User or clientdevices can include any of a number of general purpose personalcomputers, such as desktop or laptop computers running a standardoperating system, as well as cellular, wireless, and handheld devicesrunning mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networkingand messaging protocols. Such a system also can include a number ofworkstations running any of a variety of commercially-availableoperating systems and other applications for purposes such asdevelopment and database management. These devices also can includeother electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gamingsystems, and other devices capable of communicating via a network.

Various aspects also can be implemented as part of at least one serviceor Web service, such as may be part of a service-oriented architecture.Services such as Web services can communicate using any appropriate typeof messaging, such as by using messages in extensible markup language(XML) format and exchanged using an appropriate protocol such as SOAP(derived from the “Simple Object Access Protocol”). Processes providedor executed by such services can be written in any appropriate language,such as the Web Services Description Language (WSDL). Using a languagesuch as WSDL allows for functionality such as the automated generationof client-side code in various SOAP frameworks.

Most embodiments utilize at least one network for supportingcommunications using any of a variety of commercially-availableprotocols, such as TCP/IP, FTP, UPnP, NFS, and CIFS. The network can be,for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtualprivate network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a publicswitched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, andany combination thereof.

In embodiments utilizing a Web server, the Web server can run any of avariety of server or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTPservers, CGI servers, data servers, Java servers, and businessapplication servers. The server(s) also may be capable of executingprograms or scripts in response requests from user devices, such as byexecuting one or more Web applications that may be implemented as one ormore scripts or programs written in any programming language, such asJava®, C, C# or C++, or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, orTCL, as well as combinations thereof. The server(s) may also includedatabase servers, including without limitation those commerciallyavailable from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, and IBM®.

The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memoryand storage media as discussed above. These can reside in a variety oflocations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) oneor more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computersacross the network. In a particular set of embodiments, the informationmay reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”). Similarly, any necessaryfiles for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers,or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, asappropriate. Where a system includes computerized devices, each suchdevice can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupledvia a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one centralprocessing unit (CPU), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse,keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad), and at least one outputdevice (e.g., a display device, printer, or speaker). Such a system mayalso include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, opticalstorage devices, and solid-state storage devices such as random accessmemory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable mediadevices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.

Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader,a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless orwired), an infrared communication device, etc.), and working memory asdescribed above. The computer-readable storage media reader can beconnected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storagemedium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storagedevices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanentlycontaining, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readableinformation. The system and various devices also typically will includea number of software applications, modules, services, or other elementslocated within at least one working memory device, including anoperating system and application programs, such as a client applicationor Web browser. It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments mayhave numerous variations from that described above. For example,customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements mightbe implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, suchas applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devicessuch as network input/output devices may be employed.

Storage media and other non-transitory computer readable media forcontaining code, or portions of code, can include any appropriatestorage media used in the art, such as but not limited to volatile andnon-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data,including RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by the a system device.Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods toimplement the various embodiments.

The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, beevident that various modifications and changes may be made thereuntowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the claims.

1. (canceled)
 2. A computing system, comprising: a processor; memoryincluding instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause thecomputing system to: receive image data of a point of interest capturedby a camera of a computing device and a location identifier; determine avisual feature representative of the point of interest, using at leastone image processing technique; compare the visual feature and thelocation identifier to stored information associated with a candidateimage of a set of candidate images; determine a confidence score betweenthe visual feature and at least one candidate image of the set ofcandidate images; select a unique image, from the set of candidateimages, associated with the highest confidence score, the unique imageincluding the visual feature; retrieve content associated with thestored information, the content including content elements selectable bya user of the computing device; and provide the content for display withthe image data on the computing device, the content being rendered in anoverlay element that overlays the image data displayed on the computingdevice.
 3. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the locationidentifier comprises information associated with at least one of globalpositioning system (GPS) data, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, orcompass data at the time of capturing the image data.
 4. The computingsystem of claim 2, wherein the content includes at least one ofpromotional coupons, menus, advertisements, reservation systems, floorplans, videos, customer reviews, music, chat walls, audio, wait time,attractions of the point of interest, instant or daily specials,recommendations on specific items, hyperlinks to reviews of the point ofinterest on third party review sites, or alternative points of interest.5. The computing system of claim 2, wherein the stored informationcorresponds to image data acquired from at least one source, and whereinthe at least one source includes an augmented reality system, socialnetworking websites, electronic image distribution websites, or userprovided images.
 6. The computing system of claim 2, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further cause thecomputing system to: determine that a position of the visual feature isoutside a tracking threshold; receive additional image data and devicedata captured by the computing device; and overlay additional contentover the additional image data.
 7. The computing system of claim 6,wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further causethe computing system to: determine a second visual featurerepresentative of a second point of interest of the additional imagedata, using at least one image processing technique; retrieve a secondset of candidate images; compare the second visual feature to a secondcandidate image of the second set of candidate images; determine asecond confidence score between the second visual feature and at leastone second candidate image of the second set of candidate images; andselect a second unique image, from the set of candidate images.
 8. Thecomputing system of claim 2, wherein the instructions, when executed bythe processor, further cause the computing system to: receive trackinginformation corresponding to a position of the visual feature withrespect to the computing system, wherein the tracking informationcorresponds to timestamp information that corresponds to one of a timeof day and a time of year the image data is captured.
 9. Acomputer-implemented method, comprising: receiving image data of a pointof interest captured by a camera of a computing device and a locationidentifier; determining a visual feature representative of the point ofinterest, using at least one image processing technique; comparing thevisual feature and the location identifier to stored informationassociated with a candidate image of a set of candidate images;determining a confidence score between the visual feature and at leastone candidate image of the set of candidate images; selecting a uniqueimage, from the set of candidate images, associated with the highestconfidence score, the unique image including the visual feature;retrieving content associated with the stored information, the contentincluding content elements selectable by a user of the computing device;and providing the content for display with the image data on thecomputing device, the content being rendered in an overlay element thatoverlays the image data displayed on the computing device.
 10. Thecomputing system of claim 9, wherein the location identifier comprisesinformation associated with at least one of global positioning system(GPS) data, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, or compass data at thetime of capturing the image data.
 11. The computing system of claim 9,wherein the content includes at least one of promotional coupons, menus,advertisements, reservation systems, floor plans, videos, customerreviews, music, chat walls, audio, wait time, attractions of the pointof interest, instant or daily specials, recommendations on specificitems, hyperlinks to reviews of the point of interest on third partyreview sites, or alternative points of interest.
 12. The computingsystem of claim 9, wherein the stored information corresponds to imagedata acquired from at least one source, and wherein the at least onesource includes an augmented reality system, social networking websites,electronic image distribution websites, or user provided images.
 13. Thecomputing system of claim 9, further comprising: determine that aposition of the visual feature is outside a tracking threshold; receiveadditional image data and a second location identifier captured by thecomputing device; and overlay additional content over the additionalimage data.
 14. The computing system of claim 13, further comprising:determine a second visual feature representative of a second point ofinterest of the additional image data, using at least one imageprocessing technique; retrieve a second set of candidate images; comparethe second visual feature to a second candidate image of the second setof candidate images; determine a second confidence score between thesecond visual feature and at least one second candidate image of thesecond set of candidate images; and select a second unique image, fromthe set of candidate images.
 15. The computing system of claim 9,wherein the content is displayed on the computing device with at leastone of glowing effect, bold effect, billboard effect, or a visualthree-dimensional element.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim9, further comprising: enabling a user of the computing device tocustomize a display of the content by indicating a type of contentassociated with the visual feature
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, cause the computingdevice to: receive image data of a point of interest captured by acamera of a computing device and a location identifier; determine avisual feature representative of the point of interest, using at leastone image processing technique; compare the visual feature and thelocation identifier to stored information associated with a candidateimage of a set of candidate images; determine a confidence score betweenthe visual feature and at least one candidate image of the set ofcandidate images; select a unique image, from the set of candidateimages, associated with the highest confidence score, the unique imageincluding the visual feature; retrieve content associated with thestored information, the content including content elements selectable bya user of the computing device; and provide the content for display withthe image data on the computing device, the content being rendered in anoverlay element that overlays the image data displayed on the computingdevice.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim17, wherein the stored information is stored remote from the computingdevice.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim17, wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computingdevice to: receive an indication from the user associated with thecontent, the indication providing user feedback regarding the content,suggestions regarding additional content, or in input indicative of anupdated point of interest.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 17, wherein the location identifier comprisesinformation associated with at least one of global positioning system(GPS) data, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data, or compass data at thetime of capturing the image data
 21. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructionswhen executed further cause the computing device to: receive trackinginformation corresponding to a position of the visual feature withrespect to the computing system, wherein the tracking informationcorresponds to timestamp information that corresponds to one of a timeof day and a time of year the image data is captured.